EAM defends holding elections amid Covid spike

Elections are “sacrosanct” in India and “we are a deeply political society”, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar said, defending the government from criticism that the election process including rallies led to the spread of Covid in the country. In an interaction as part of the “Global Dialogue Series”, the Minister—who is currently on a visit to London—however conceded that the healthcare system in the country stood “exposed” in the country and blamed it on inadequate spending on health in the past 75 years, adding that this was why Prime Minister Narendra Modi had emphasised the Ayushman Bharat health scheme.

EAM Jaishankar also conceded that everyone in the country had let their guard down after the number of cases came down drastically in February this year, adding that while the focus was on reviving the economy after the lockdown last year, the “attempt to instil confidence had created a societal complacence that all of us are part of”.

Describing the current pandemic crisis in the country as “difficult and painful” as the current strain of the Covid virus ravaging the country was “much more virulent”, the EAM however said that the Government was tackling it by “giving it everything we have and more”. He made it clear that all people of the county need to “put the blame game aside” and look at “what we can do” to tackle the situation.

Mr. Jaishankar also said that after the first wave of Covid, the Government had authorised 1,200 Oxygen plants and that money had been given to states since Health was a state subject in the Indian federal devolution of powers.

“You can’t not have elections in a democratic country like India. We are a deeply political country. ... Elections are sacrosanct ... We are a deeply political society,” the EAM said. Responding to criticism on the Government allowing the Kumbh mela, the EAM shot back saying that one cannot argue that while religious crowds area risk, (farmer) protest crowds are not. He pointed out that the Government had been accused in some quarters of imposing lockdown last year to quell the CAA protests when in fact, the Government had declared the Lockdown to save the country from the first wave of the Covid virus.

On vaccines and why India exported millions of doses to foreign nations in the past few months, the EAM made it clear that the country had international obligations such as the Covax Initiative and that the Covishield vaccine itself was a British-developed vaccine manufactured in India.